News and Thanet issues. Ramsgate Margate and Broadstairs are the three main towns on The Isle of Thanet situated in the far southeast of England.
I run the bookshop in Ramsgate see www.michaelsbookshop.com I publish over 100 books about the history of this area click here to look at them.

Sunday, 18 August 2013

Margate’s Vintage Weekend pictures and ramble

Thanks to Margate Architecture for posting that this event
was on today, I tried to check the details on the council’s visit Thanet
website, but even knowing that it was on I couldn’t find it there.

Presumably the tourist information office knew the event was
on as it was happening all around them and the office was open today.

I had a cup of tea in the café above the food shop that may
be Polish on Marine Drive, this is next to the new Sands Hotel and also has a
balcony overlooking the beach, pot of tea for one which was very good £1.50.
This was while the fairer sex were shopping next door but one in Primark and is
information that others may find useful. Sorry I failed to get the name of the
place.

There was a Beatles tribute band performing on the seafront
I think called The Electric Beatles and there should be a video of them in with
the pictures, my phone and the way it automatically puts pictures and videos on
the internet has a bit of a mind of its own, I think I may need to change the
apps so the videos automatically go on youtube.

I am really sorry about this failure to promote local events
properly on the internet, I have complained about the council’s tourism website
in the past, but frankly it is a bit of a waste of time. I think the problem is
that the last council run tourist information office, the one in Margate, has a
fairly accurate list of events but they don’t have a way of managing the
website. It seems that if the event organiser fills in the appropriate forms
the event appears on the council’s website, bot often in a way that you can’t
easily find it.

I would do a local events website myself, but frankly I have
neither the time or resources. I have enough difficulties with the Thanet Press
Release Blog, trying to get people to email press releases with the phrase
“press release” in the email subject, so I know to publish them and to send
them to me as text with a picture seems to be impossible.

40 comments:

I wouldn't have known this was on either without Louise mentioning it on her blog, not that I actually saw much of it (I did the Viking cycle trail around Thanet with a friend this afternoon and we briefly saw what was happening outside the TC as we went past).

Well it is called a park and that is what cars do when they are not being driven so logic would suggest that there might be occasions when they come together. After all, if the authority responsible for the park authorises parking then it is not illegal.

In short the contract expires early next year, the fence has been licensed for another year by KCC so will certainly stay for some time. I gather the council have been taking legal advice and will probably start what may be a long and expensive battle to reclaim the site from early next year.

The alternative is the developer starts working on the site again, although this now seems unlikely.

My take is that the foundations that were built on the site were not intended to be real foundations or else they would have considered the sea defence which holds the sand the foundations sit on in place. It dates from 1860 and hasn’t been inspected or maintained. Things like only some the reinforcing rods being painted with rust preventative in the salt spray air there is an indicator that there isn’t an intention to continue.

The Royal Sands website is still saying that they expect apartments to be ready for occupation in autumn of this year, another indicator that the impetus has completely gone out of the project.

All in all with no developer’s website, no developer’s track record, no minor site maintenance, no updating or the sales website, the indicators are that the project has failed completely.

My understanding was KCC instructed the removal of the fence within 30 days ie by c.mid-Sept.

Pleasurama certainly has failed - we've had no details on the delays or what seems corruption through both political parties. Painter and Keegan seem to be the frontmen or involved more deeply in shuttling funds offshore?

Have TDC gone quiet on an investigation as with Ferrygate? 10 years and strange offshore companies and no investigation seems unusual.

Removing the fence will allow the site to be cleared and turfed and a proper debate on the future of the site.

When I ask for FOI TDC just ignore it or refuse. Then the auditor says they can't do anything so the accounts are approved. A bit of a swizz really. If Driver's not even getting the accounts then mcGonigal could put anything through.

My understanding, off topic, is that Ian Driver is pursuing an EU Treaty obligation Article 107. About public funds grant aiding industry and commerce. Debt arrangements, he argues, being subject (Unfair competition) of that Article. TDC would then have been under an obligatory duty to disclose the details, from the outset of the arrangement, to the EU to monitor.

It would follow that the audited accounts for each year from the outset of the debt arrangement cannot have been lawfully signed off IF the EU treaty was never complied with?

Interesting point 2:29 - seems to be a rod for his own back but because of the different EU companies involved with TEF presumably. The EU is just more bureaucrats who'll shuffle the papers around. TDC's accounts have been fraudulent for years. Look at the 0% salaries for example. or with Ferrygate another £100k pops up out of reserves so there is no debt apparently.

People have been jailed for far less fraud.

The reality is TDC is just a numpty council being secretive because they're incompetent. He should declare a vote of no confidence in Macgonigal and call the Police in. Why are we paying her £110k?

There are a number of laws and treaties that place a reporting duty on bodies like TDC. Laws like Proceeds of Crime Act/Money Laundering Regulations. The duty to report to another authority whose duty it is to determine if crime has been committed or if Treaty Obligations have been breached.

This leads to confusion on the blogs. People call for police to be summonsed. People throw words like "Corruption" about. And others obsessively challenge "What proof have you got"

When all along the known evidence suggests only that TDC have a duty to report and have failed to do it. It may be that when and if the duties to report issues are remedied then investigations ensue. And that could be in matters dating back decades, including into 1990s grant aid of 7 million, as well as in the two more recent issues of Pleasurama and TEF.

Not really 6:21 for all the squawks of defamation etc to try and clamp down on debate, nobody has ever been insulting or maliciously libellous except for JH.

TDC is notoriously corrupt. And notoriously incompetent if not wilfully incompetent to the point of where misuse of office veers into corruption and fraud eg refusing FOI requests.

For Ferrygate though it does like like (incredible) incompetence and secrecy - and illegal in the council's own procedures- rather than trousering funds as seems to be the case with Pleasurama offshore or 0% salaries. Both the latter detailed rather than empty slurs.

John, apart from the Manston fruit and nut case and dear old Rick with his conspiracies, there is also a notable lack of the political debate that used to be part of Thanet blog life. Could it be that Conservative supporter disillusionment with Cameron and Labour voters lack of confidence in Milliband is leading to almost total apathy towards the political scene. Certainly, unless one is a totally blinkered party bigot, it is hard to argue the case for much our political leaders deliver these days.

In my view politics has become bland and predictable. I am disappointed with David Cameron, who will do anything to cling on to power. Miliband is a Marxist child looking for a cause and that may yet be Unite. If he gets into bed with the Unions then that will be the end of Labour for a decade. The Lib Dems have gone, by way of too many broken promises to their followers.

I am still hoping that UKIP will liven things up. There is no doubting what Nigel Farage believes in and stands for. Regrettably, I cannot say the same for David Cameron. UKIP cannot form a government. Yet they may force a Tory UKIP; rather as the SDP did with Labour, that gave us New Labour.

Thanet politics is in the main nothing more than than scratching around to stay in power. With improving the lot of the residents coming a poor second. The evidence suggests to me that the introduction of party politics into Local Government was a bad thing.

Having said all that Laura Sandys has my support. She is a superb constituency MP. TDC could learn much by her example.

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Saturday for me was pure self indulgence, so first I went to Canterbury Cathedral, I have to admit that I find advent one of the hardest ...

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